Poland is a popular source of goods for US companies. The quality of Polish-made products is high, and shipping from Poland has become easier since that country joined the EU and upgraded its transportation infrastructure.
But how does the cost of shipping from Poland to the USA compare with transportation costs from other sourcing markets?
Many buyers look to Poland as a source of well-made goods at attractive prices. Of course, when you source from overseas, you have to consider the length of transit along with the cost of the product and the transportation.
So when it comes to shipping time, how does shipping from Poland to the USA compare with shipping from other markets?
Shipping an oversize load costs more than shipping cargo that fits in a conventional ocean container. That’s just a fact of life.
But the more you know about how the cost of oversize shipping adds up, the more easily you can find ways to shave some dollars off the total.
Let’s look at the factors that add expense to an oversize shipment:
Since 2015, U.S. imports of Polish goods have grown an average of 10% per year. Companies now recognize that they can buy high-quality products in Poland for less than the cost of similar goods sourced in Western Europe. The average shipping time from Poland to East Coast ports in the U.S. is 20 days.
Ocean is the cheapest way to transport cargo from the US to Poland, or vice versa. But for some shipments, “cheap” won’t do.
Say you’re shipping a sensitive product that can’t withstand three weeks on the ocean in summer or winter temperatures. Or say it’s crucial to deliver that product in just a few days. That’s when air freight provides the best solution.
One of the best ways to save money on international shipping is to load containers with as much weight as the law allows. After you load them, of course, you need to get that heavy shipment to the port, and then from the destination port to the receiver.
Those over-the-road trips can be tricky. It takes a special kind of service provider – ideally a heavy haul freight broker – to move a heavy shipment safely, legally and economically.
A major rail line in the New York Metro area was able to source the steel rail it needed in the UK. The company arranged ocean transport to the Port of NY/NJ, but transporting the steel rail from New Jersey to Connecticut was going to be a challenge since some of the rail sections were 132 feet long.
The term “project cargo” refers to a shipment that is crucial to a mission. Often oversize, overweight and/or high value, this shipment is likely to need several containers or other conveyances.
When you ship project cargo overseas, you can’t trust it to just any freight forwarder. The demands of project cargo require special expertise.
Many global shippers of dense, heavy freight fail to maximize container payloads and, as a result, inflate heavy freight shipping costs 20% or more. But by working with the right landside partners, heavy freight shippers can maximize container weight on the water to reduce the total number of container shipments annually – and still deliver door-to-door, without transloading.
Sometimes you have to load a truck with extra-heavy freight—for example, to transport large machinery to an ocean port. Sometimes it just pays to ship heavy—for instance, to save money on ocean transportation by fitting all the weight you can into a container.
Either way, it’s important to understand heavy haul freight rates and know what it takes to transport heavy freight over the road.
